A maintenance schedule for a commercial lot

Parking lot replacement is one of the larger unplanned capital items a property owner faces, and it is largely avoidable with a schedule.

Annually

• Sweep and clear, particularly at edges and drainage points where debris holds water.
• Walk the lot in spring and photograph any new cracking.
• Clear vegetation from cracks and joints before it widens them.
• Check that drainage still works and water is not ponding.

Every two to four years

• Crack fill.
• Seal, depending on traffic volume and exposure.
• Restripe — faded lines are a liability question as much as an appearance one.

As required

• Patch localised failures before they spread.
• Address any area where water is standing after rain.

Water is what destroys a lot. Almost every maintenance item on this list is really about keeping water out or moving it off.

Written for the kind of lots through Box Springs Business Park, along Dunmore Road and out in Redcliff, where the surface is doing real duty and closing it for a week is not an option.